Max Planck Society opens two new research centres in Singapore

The Max Planck Society, an independent non-governmental and nonprofit association of German research institutes, has opened two new centres in Singapore, the organisation's first in the region.

The agreements officially establishing the centres were signed on 20/04/2026 at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. The new centres are the Max Planck Singapore Centre for Data-driven Chemistry and the Max Planck-NTU Singapore Centre for Biocultural Worlding, the last one being planned to run from 2026 to 2031, with the option of a five-year extension.

The first will aim to enable researchers to use automated experiments and artificial intelligence to generate reliable data on chemical reactions and new materials, while the second will bring together researchers, artists, curators, legal scholars and knowledge-holding communities to explore how biological diversity and cultural life shape one another.

These centres will be in the continuity of the association's strategy to collaborate with Singapore, a plan that was set in motion by a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2024…